Health Library

Health Library

Feeding Your Child with Cystic Fibrosis

How many calories does my child need?

Children with cystic fibrosis (CF) are often challenged by failure to thrive or poor weight gain despite getting enough calories. Infections, breathing problems, and the body's inability to take in certain nutrients (malabsorption) can all contribute to the need for extra calories. Children with CF should have a diet high in calories. With extra calories, most children with CF are able to grow and develop normally.

Children with CF should eat three meals and two to three snacks a day to help meet their calorie needs. It can help to add extra fat to meals and snacks to meet these needs. Pancreatic enzymes will usually be needed to help digest this food.

How can extra calories be added?

You can add extra calories to your child's meals and snacks by trying the following:

Does my child need extra vitamins?

Vitamins A, D, E, and K are known as fat-soluble vitamins. Vitamins are important for proper growth and development. Many children with CF do not get enough of these vitamins from the foods they eat, because they have difficulty digesting and absorbing fat. When this happens, your child may need to take extra vitamins. Your child's health care provider can recommend the type and amount of vitamins you should give to your child. There are vitamins specifically made for children with CF. Consult your child's health care provider for more information.

Does my child need extra salt?

Children with CF need extra salt in their diets because they lose more salt in their sweat than other children. Add extra salt by using the saltshaker at meals and including salty foods and snacks -- for example, chips, pretzels, fast foods, french fries, pickles, nuts, and luncheon meats. Extra salt intake is important in the hot weather, when children are playing outside and sweating.

What if my child is not gaining weight?

Sometimes, children with CF don't grow or gain weight despite a high-calorie diet. This can happen if your child's appetite is poor, he or she has frequent infections, or he or she has malabsorption. Symptoms of malabsorption include bloating, flatulence, foul-smelling stools, abdominal pain, and watery diarrhea.

If your child can't eat enough food for normal growth and development, then he or she might need supplemental oral or tube feedings, as directed by your child's health care provider. This involves placing a small tube through the nose and into the stomach. The tube is called a nasogastric tube, or NG tube. You can then give your child a high-calorie formula or supplement through this tube.

Some children with CF need calorie supplements over a long period of time. In this case, a feeding tube (gastrostomy or "G-tube") is placed through the stomach wall, or the child is given intravenous fat solutions (intralipids). Talk with your child's health care provider for more information.

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